The present electrical terminal connections use a mechanical connection between the two wires and the terminal. This style of terminal is made by crimping stranded or solid wires to make an electrical connection wherein the electrical connection must be located in an area having fluid such as water or gasoline surrounding it. For example, a fuel injector to an electronic control module.
As shown in Prior Art FIG. 1A, when connecting two different sized stranded wires, 12, 16, each sized wire 12, 16 is placed in a hollow brass crimp ferrule 25 having two ends, with the inside diameter of each end corresponding to the diameter of the stranded wire to be held together. Section 22 corresponds to wire 12 and its wire strands 16 while section 26 corresponds to wire 14 and its wire strands 18. Section 26 extends into section 20. Section 22, 20 are only mechanically crimped 29 as shown in FIG. 1B to hold the two wires tightly together. Collar 24 which is integral with crimp ferrule 25 serves to provide a single fuel barrier as well as an anchor and a centering section (not shown). Solid wires or wires of the same diameter could also be used.
Since the connection between the outside of insulation 13 and the inside of 15 of the crimp ferrule depends solely on the tightness of fit, it is possible that the connection will fail due to the blind fit between the wire and connector, especially when subjected to repeated stress movement. The entire connection is molded with a covering (which will be discussed below) to maintain water tightness.
While this system works, the inventors have found that this process can be substantially improved upon by eliminating the costly crimp ferrule thus, eliminating the difficulty of making certain that the respective wires are properly inserted there for a proper crimping. To improve the water/gasoline tightness of the connector, multiple diameters serve as fuel barriers as well as maintaining the same amount of material for the pre-mold and the same dimensions for the overmold portion.